How to Extract Data from Disk Image File Quickly?
“I am working in an organization consists of various departments and I am a member of the Forensics team. Recently, my team assigned a secondary storage device that contains many important shreds of evidence of a criminal case. I tried but I am unable to open and read any file because all files are stored in disk image file format. Can anyone suggest me a suitable approach to extract data from Disk Image file on Windows OS?”
Are you also getting the same problem while extracting disk image files? Then, you are not the only one. Many people face the same problem. Now, the question arises of how one can easily open and view the content of a disk image file. Thus, in this blog, we are going to introduce a smart and trustworthy solution to extract data from disk image files.
Table of Content
What are Disk Image Files and Their Uses?
A disk image file is a copy of all data on a storage device such as a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, or USB flash drive. This is often created by a sector-by-sector replication of the original storage device, which includes structure and contents. Moreover, the disk image of the hard drive may be stored as a virtual hard disk (VHD). It also helps to maintain all properties of its source files and folders. There is no size limitation when it comes to Disk Image Files as it stores entire disk content.
Advantages of Creating Disk Image Files
Extraction of data from disk images is very important these days. Thus, the disk image file is a handy device, which helps to save important information. Some of the advantages are listed below:
- Recovery ensures that your lost data is safe.
- Best way to keep your crucial data secure.
- Resizing of individual partitions of many file systems.
- Creating exact replicas of the content of one Hard Drive/Volume
Three Types of Disk Image Files
Disk image files are of different types but some of them are mainly used for forensic purposes. These files are mainly preferred because of their secured nature and help to recover data from disk image files. Some of them are mentioned below:
- E01 File: This file extension is recognized as an “Encase Image File” and they are created on the Windows Platform.
- DMG File: DMG files are created on the MAC X Operating System. These files use the extension .dmg
- DD File: The Linux Operating System is supported for creating DD Files. The extension used for such files is .001
Best Method to Extract Disk Image File
There are many solutions available to read disk image files. Amongst all, one of the best applications is Disk Image Viewer. This tool provides the functionality to open and view disk image files including E01, DD & DMG files on different platforms. The best part of this tool is that it can restore deleted data from a disk image file on a Windows machine
Benefits of Using Disk File Image Viewer
- Open & Analyze Disk Image File: You can load, scan and read all disk image files including DMG, E01 and DD without any size limit. Using Disk Image Viewer, one can directly open all data items stored in it. It makes DD file forensics easier.
- Offers Advanced Search Feature: This software equips a search option that allows the user to search for a specific file by typing its name in the search field. Also, it facilitates a date-range filter in which the file comes under a particular range only.
- Recover Deleted Disk Image File: This tool is capable enough to recover lost or deleted disk image files. Moreover, this software provides an instant preview of all deleted files marked as read within the software pane.
- Preview Data of disk Image File: Once the scanning is done, it allows to preview of all items stored along with their attributes like file name, file size, etc. It has a user-friendly interface that even a non-tech user can use without expert help.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Open and Extract Data from Disc Image File
1. Firstly, you need to launch the Disk Image Viewer application.
2. After that, go to the open button and select any file format i.e., E01, DMG, DD as per your need.
3. In the next step, click Browse>> Scan to proceed further.
4. After successful scanning of the file, you can view the contents of the selected Disk Image File.
Final Thoughts
Backup plays a very important role in storing crucial information for future use. However, there is no manual approach to extracting data from disk image files. Therefore, in the above section, we have suggested a remarkable solution named as Disk Image Viewer tool. It is designed in such a manner to extract all data from disk image files efficiently. Also, we have explained the complete working steps of the tool along with its amazing features.
Some Questions Asked by Users
Q. Can I extract a 16 GB disk image file using this application?
A. Yes, by using this software users to extract disc image files of any size without any file size limitation.
Q. How to extract disk image files in Windows 11?
A. Use the above tool to restore data from disk images. Since it is compatible with all editions of the Windows operating system.
Q. Is it possible to view multiple disk image files at once?
A. Yes, by using this tool users can view various disk image files at once without losing any data.